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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24761794">by the burning sunset</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikunicchi/pseuds/mikunicchi'>mikunicchi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arashi (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Please Don't Hate Me, in which nino is an actual cat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:40:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,510</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24761794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikunicchi/pseuds/mikunicchi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The day they met, one of them had no name, and the other one was crying.</p><p>or</p><p>in which Jun finds a cat in the street the same day he broke up with his boyfriend and takes him home.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Matsumoto Jun/Ninomiya Kazunari</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>by the burning sunset</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First of all, Happy 37th birthday Nino!! </p><p>This fic has been crawling around my brain for so long and in the end, I decided to write it out. I should list a few warnings though: Nino isn't a shapeshifter or anything like that, he is actually, literally a cat in this story. I got inspired by a lot of things; Ojisama to Neko, Doukyonin wa Hiza, tokidoki Atama no Ue, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsT6eKsnT0M">this song</a><a></a><br/>"Neko" by DISH// </p><p>So the story isn't exactly a JunxNino story but something like that??? It's more like the story of a human and a cat hahaha<br/>Anyway, please let me know what you think in case you decide to read!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was an evening, with a crimson sky that looked like it could swallow everything when he first saw <em>him</em>. He was crying, it was obvious and was very tall, he thought as he was looking up from the box he was placed in. The crimson sky behind him was giving him an aura which made him look indescribably sad. He meowed. It was a feeble sound, directed only to the person in front of him. He looked straight into the eyes of the crying human. <em>Why you look so sad?</em> he thought curiously, craning his neck and taking a timid step towards the man just to take a better look.</p><p>The man crouched down, way too fast for the poor cat’s liking as he hissed and scurried away into the box but in the next moment, he was looking at him again. The man chuckled, as he reached out to the box. The cat felt him being lifted from the ground, and panicked. <em>What was happening? Where they were going?</em></p><p>The cat scratched the cardboard box with his pointed claws but he was so small compared to this huge world. He fearfully crouched in the box, becoming smaller than he already is as he waited for what was going to come.</p><p>The cat had no idea how much they moved. But when his box is finally put down, he didn't move. He couldn’t move. His ears were pointed up, listening to his surroundings. The small cat was on alert as he didn’t move an inch from where he is.</p><p>Then he saw him again. The man crouched in front of him again. “It’s okay,” he said which the cat didn’t understand. “You can come out now, it’s safe,” he was cooing the cat.</p><p>However, the cat didn’t move. He didn’t trust humans at all and the one in front of him was a human. He kept looking at him in the eyes when the man moved. The cat growled lowly, making the man stop immediately.</p><p>“It’s okay,” he said once again but the cat didn’t move. “I won’t hurt you,” the man reached out once again and he was suddenly too close which made the cat screech and claw him.</p><p>The man winced, taking his hand back immediately. The cat was proud of himself for a moment, he showed that human what he could do! He wasn’t a helpless one, after all, he could protect himself!</p><p>But the next moment, the cat ended up seeing the sadness in the eyes of the human. He didn’t shoo him, or throw him away, or kicked him but he just looked at him with sad eyes. The small cat was taken aback. He wasn’t used to humans looking this sad. Something inside the cat moved, as he took a step towards the man. He wasn’t sure if he could trust the man or not but the small cat didn’t like to see that sad expression.</p><p>Another step followed the previous, as he timidly walked towards the man. He got out of the box without realizing. He was still nervous and ready to run off if the man made a move but he stood completely still as he watched the cat come closer. The cat sniffed the hand of the man and nudged it with his nose. The man didn’t move, he was holding his breath as he let the cat have this moment.</p><p>The cat licked his finger, right the place he just scratched and when he looked up, the man’s lips were crooked to the side, as he was smiling for the first time that night.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jun decided to name the small cat as Nino.</p><p>He had found him in the evening he had let his loved one go. The crimson sky was absorbing everything as he watched his better half walk away. He was sad, there was no denying it when he heard it as he was walking aimlessly. He was crying when he saw the small cat inside a cardboard box, and despite everything, those amber coloured eyes caught his and Jun felt himself falling for the small creature on spot.</p><p>He had brought him home, even though he knew that animals hated him and this cat could also hate him. The small cat scratched him and bit him whenever Jun tried to touch him but he was very gentle. There were times Jun felt the gaze of Nino on himself, where it sat afar and kept watching him.</p><p>“So you have a cat?” his friend and colleague, Aiba asked him incredulously. “Really?”</p><p>“You wouldn’t believe it,” Jun smiled thinking about the small cat that was waiting for him</p><p>“And it doesn’t hate you?” Aiba questioned.</p><p>“It probably does.”</p><p>“Yet you keep him?”</p><p>“I do,” Jun nodded.</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Because I love him,” Jun said truthfully. He did love that cat very much.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t understand it at first, but apparently, Nino was his name. The small cat was constantly being called like that and from some point, he realized that it was about him. The human, or rather, his human was a nice one. He fed him, cleaned his toilet and didn’t hurt him.</p><p>Nino watched him closely. He never got too close but he watched him. He watched the human while he cooked, he watched him while he did the cleaning, while he worked, while he read some books, and while he slept.</p><p>The human usually woke up poorly. Nino knew because he would wait for the human to leave the house to take a nap. He would grumble something under his breath while drags his feet to the kitchen to drink a dark liquid which Nino couldn’t tell as he slowly woke up. Nino would scurry away from him when he was freshly awake and he would only come out when the latter didn’t look that scary. Nino figured it out pretty fast and he was suspecting the human has also realized his behaviour pattern.</p><p>The human leave him be. They sometimes sat opposite each other and had staring contests which Nino kind of liked. He also liked lounging on the empty sofa close to his human while he read his books or worked. There were a lot of things Nino liked but there were also things he hated.</p><p>Sometimes he cried.</p><p>Nino had no idea why his human was crying, he wondered if he hurt somewhere or something like that but no. The man cried from time to time, and Nino decided that he didn’t like it at all.</p><p>It was a night like that when Nino decided that he had enough of his human’s crying. It was disturbing his sleep and it was annoying him.</p><p>He padded towards his human, stopped right in front of him and waited for him to realize his presence. The man looked at him with teary eyes and Nino decided that was it. He got closer to the human and with a bold move, he climbed to his lap. He licked his jaw and looked at him in the eye.</p><p>The man blinked, he looked at him wondrously for a whole minute. He was unable to move.</p><p>They stayed like that until Nino decided that it was enough and jumped down from his lap, going back to the sofa to curl and continue to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Jun loved having a companion. It was certainly weird to have a cat, especially when animals hated him, but apparently, Nino didn’t hate him. True that they didn’t start well. It took time for Nino to get used to Jun but they were finally there and Jun could tell that he loved that cat without any hesitation.</p><p>But he still hasn’t forgotten about <em>him</em>, and Jun was sure that he would never ever forget about <em>him</em>. He still cried sometimes, he certainly became a crybaby after he left. He still walked at the same speed when <em>he</em> was still by his side. There still were times he wanted to think that day was just a dream. But it wasn’t and that was the reality.</p><p>He sighed once again, he always did so when he thought about <em>him</em>. Jun was tied by so many memories that he could never let go.</p><p>Maybe that was why he named that cat like that.</p><p>Maybe a part of him wanted to keep <em>him</em> by his side.</p><p>The key turned in the hole, letting him into his house. The small cat was sitting by the entrance, looking at him sharply with his amber coloured eyes.</p><p>“I’m home,” Jun said to the cat with a smile.</p><p>He received a moody meow which made Jun laugh.</p><p>“Sorry, I’m late,” he replied as he sat down next to the cat on the floor. The cat quickly climbed on his lap, digging his claws to Jun’s pants and settling. It was his way to show that Jun won’t be moving for a while, but he certainly didn’t mind. He stroked Nino’s soft fur, cradling him close to his chest. He did love this cat.</p>
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